«Dear Nic, I need you», thus begins the letter sent by Baby Gang to Nicolò De Devitiis, correspondent of Hyenas, from the Busto Arsizio prison, where a few days ago he was locked up again after the revocation of his house arrest. «I’m writing to you from my cell – continues the rapper from Lecco, real name: Zaccaria Mouhib – immersed in the shadows surrounded by four soaked walls, after a few days ago I was brought back inside for something I can’t understand. It’s cold in the cell, very cold, even though it’s May outside. I don’t have hot water and I haven’t slept in days. I can’t breathe even in the hour of fresh air. Prison is a place you never get used to. In here – continues Baby Gang – every day is the same but every time it is different, these rooms are pervaded by humidity and desperation. Often you even forget who you are and why you are where you are. But I don’t, I don’t forget. That’s why I need you.”
Why Baby Gang was brought back to prison
The rapper, as summarized by a report from Hyenas aired last night, was brought back to prison after two photos appeared on his official Instagram profile taken from the set of a video clip for the launch of a single taken from The angel of evil, his latest album, immediately jumped to the top of all the charts. In these photos the boy, 22 years old, shows the electronic bracelet and holds a gun surrounded by packages of marijuana, except that both the gun and the drugs are just props and the two photos were not posted by Baby Gang but by Marilson Paulo Da Silva, his manager, who admitted it in the interview. According to what was declared by Baby Gang himself and his lawyer, the making of the video clip had been authorised, so the judges’ decision to bring Baby Gang back to prison appears sudden because, as they write, those posts would represent a communication with «an indeterminate number of subjects », furthermore the subject of the photos would be an aggravating circumstance, proof «of the concrete and current danger of repeating the crime»
«I have to make a confession: I’m guilty»
Baby Gang proceeds in the letter: «I need someone to help me shine a light on this story. But before I continue I have to make a confession. I am guilty. Guilty of having shot a video clip for my new single. Guilty of having asked for and obtained all the necessary authorizations and of having shot him with an electronic bracelet on his ankle. Guilty of having taken stage photos during filming. Guilty of having let my manager manage my social media accounts, who published those photos. Because if this is enough to get thrown in jail I can’t do anything but confess. I confess my distrust in justice. I confess that I no longer understand a system that takes away freedom for such banality. I confess to being incredulous and pissed off. You see Niccolò – he continues – when I hear that success makes you privileged it makes me smile. In my case, notoriety has triggered morbid attention and controls (even on social profiles) that there would not have been towards an ordinary person. Above all, I feel deceived, because first they gave me the OK to shoot that video and then they put me in prison for having it published. Don’t you find it absurd? What artist would make a music video without being able to share it with the public?”
«I am not a danger to this society»
In the letter Baby Gang says that he is afraid for his career, «The only legal thing I have ever done», as he declared in an interview, and that he has never claimed to be a model for his listeners, because « I have made many mistakes in my life. But not this time.” «It’s not the prison that scares me, it’s the system – she writes again – it’s the idea of being branded for life, the feeling that they want to prevent me from shining. I am not a danger to society, but I am increasingly afraid that this society is a danger to me.” Baby Gang began a hunger strike a few days ago, refusing to accept the judges’ choice this time and hoping to resolve the situation before next June 26, when he will turn 23, a birthday which, as he writes, he does not want to celebrate in prison like the previous six.
